Indian Idol's theatre round begins

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent
After the entertaining and heartwarming audition episodes of the third season of Indian Idol, the Theatre Round began with 123 participants who were selected from nearly 25,000 who auditioned from all over India & overseas. The journey of these 123 excited youngsters (some of whom are visiting Mumbai for the first time) began with the Theatre Round in last week's episode held at the prestigious NCPA theatre. The task of short-listing the 123 contestants to 66 (in round one, held on May 19 th) was tough. Normally the number is 60, but because of the excellent talent this year, the number has been increased to 66.

This Friday, the episode (May 25, 2007) will showcase great singing, some fresh talent and the viewers will get to see bonding and friendship that makes Indian Idol so special to all. As we move on to the next level in the theatre round the competition only gets tougher. The contestants will be divided into groups of twos and threes and synchronisation with each other and the musicians will be their real test. This will be an acid test for the contestants as most of them will be performing with the musicians for the first time. As the 66 participants prepare for the duet round the air is filled with emotion and suspense, anxiety and fear. While all the participants have found their comfort zone to practice their duet, there are a few others who cannot find the right nook to practice.

Hum saath saath nahi gayenge…? Richa from Amritsar & her partner, the cool cop from Kolkata, Prashant, have a major showdown. Richa first refuses to practice in her room (as her roommate is already there), then she point blank refuses to go to Prashant's room (as she says she won't go to other people's rooms.) and finally when they compromise and reach Prashant's room, she decides to practice with Prashant's roommate and not Prashant. Tough times ahead for Richa & Prashant. Will the two actually sing together in the duet round?

Time waits for no man or woman… Once again Uma from Delhi (in the 1st Theatre Round she was late due to her exams) and Maya from Chennai (she said it was not her fault.) are late. Even after being late and almost out of the show in the first Theatre Round they are late once again. What would be the reason this time? Have they not learnt their lesson? In spite of judge Annu telling them that this is serious and they must not be late again…they have done it again. Will the two make headway this time around?

Is participant ko gussa kyun aata hai? Suhit Gosain from Bhopal & Charu Semwal from Delhi is one of the singing jodis for the 2nd Theatre Round . While they bonded brilliantly and practiced the song in perfect rhythm back stage, on stage, the nervous Charu simply forgot her lines. Suhit tried his best and failed…but once they were out of the theatre an angry and disappointed Suhit blamed Charu for the lost opportunity. The episode got ugly when Suhit started raising his voice. They signed a peace treaty only after anchor-cum-friend Mini intervened and cooled down the two. We know you are here to win, but remember losers are also winners, in their own right. You both have made it to the top 123 & that it is a big win. What say?

Singing can make your knees go weak …Saswata Bhattacharjee from Kolkata was all excited to be in Mumbai for the Theatre Round. A professional singer he came to conquer his dreams in the 'city of dreams'. Unfortunately while he was singing, before the judges, he forgot his lines. It is only human, but the goof up shattered Saswata and the youngster fainted on the stage. Exhaustion, excitement or disappointment…it was not Saswata's day. Don't lose heart there's always another chance.

Jodi hamari… Meiyang Chang from Kolkata & Aisha Sayed from Mumbai came, sang and conquered the judges.. They made for one of the most popular singing pair of this season. Also, very popular and an instant hit with the judges were Harshida from London & her partner Padmanav from Delhi. They were so perfect with their rhythm, in sync with each other while singing and were voted the 'cutest jodi of Indian Idol'.